Apple Prepares High Resolution Retina Graphics For Online Store

Apple is finally preparing high resolution graphics for its online store to accommodate the Retina displays on the new iPad and the next-generation MacBook Pro. Although the Cupertino company has already overhauled most of its website, the online store still includes plenty of old graphics that appear fuzzy on its latest devices. But not for long.

As noted by Callum Strong, a developer with Fat Media, Apple’s servers now include high-resolution graphics destined for the Apple online store. The graphics appear to be double the resolution of the existing ones, and they use the same “2x” file tag differentiator used by iOS apps.

As you can see from the image above, which is labeled “store-header-footer-sprite@2x.png,” there’s quite a difference in size between the two graphics sets.

The high-resolution graphics are yet to go live in the online store, but we’re assuming it’s only a matter of time before they do. The third-generation iPad has been available for four months now, and I’m quite surprised it’s taken this long for the change to happen.

Some believed that Apple was making the update earlier this week, when the online store went down for almost six hours. But the only thing that had changed when it returned was the introduction of a new text message notification system for online orders.